By Kehinde Okeowo
Sometimes in mid-nineties, my elder brother and I embarked on a trip from Owo, our home town to Ile-Oluji my mum’s municipality, two towns in Ondo state. On getting to Akure, we saw a stunning and gorgeously dressed lady waiting to catch a lift and my brother who was driving offered her one. She was actually heading towards Ondo town, a town after Ile -Oluji. Instantly, a conversation developed and my brother in an attempt to make an impression on the lady told her we were heading to Lagos.
On getting to Ondo town, we dropped her and bid her farewell, only for my brother to proceed towards Ore, a move that left me dumbfounded. He was about joining Ore-Ijebu Ode express way and heading towards Lagos when I mustered enough courage to ask him where he was going. It was at that point, he realized he had forgotten our original mission. In a nut shell, my brother had forgotten we were on an errand from my mum to Ile-Oluji and had started believing his own lie. This is the kind of world the American President, Donald Trump and his followers live today, a dangerous universe were conspiracy theory rather than fact is the order of the day, gas-lighting rather than truth is the norm and fiction is superior to science. In all, it’s a state where fantasies are believed and pursued as reality.
Covid-19 and the Economy
Before corona virus broke out in Wuhan, China, Donald Trump had a good economy. His political advisers and Republican Party as a whole were hoping he would reel out his achievements, especially in the economic front to fellow Americans and lay down plans of where he intends to take the country in the next four years. But true to type, Trump deviated and got caught up in web of corona virus, confederacy controversy, racial inequalities saga, Twitter war and other unnecessary distractions. His poor handling of Corona virus and denial of reality that the country he leads has the highest infection rate and death per capital in the world had taken away his once vibrant economy. Consequently, he lost the support among the elderly and minorities who were mostly affected by the pandemic and suburban women who were sick and tired of his divisive utterances.
Casting aspersion of mail-in-ballot
Those who understand how American election works will wonder why a candidate in an election would sabotage himself by discourage his supporters from using mail-in-ballot, especially in the midst of a pandemic, when people in a bid to avoid catching the virus were likely to send in their votes through the mail rather than vote in person. Mail-in ballot, though expanded in several states this year due to covid-19 outbreak, is not new to American election, In fact, Donald Trump had used it in the past. Despite this, he continued condemning its usage during his campaign. The move eventually backfired, as it affected his re-election bid adversely and propelled his opponent in winning the swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Senator John McCain and Arizona Politics
Attack on late Senator John McCain of Arizona is another example of Trump’s naivety and perhaps arrogance. He had on numerous occasions attacked the late Senator, a onetime republican presidential candidate and gold star war veteran. Trump once labeled him a ‘captured soldier’ rather than a war hero and he did not attend his funeral. His cruelty towards the late senator and his family eventually drove Mrs. Cindy McCain, his widow, to endorse his democratic opponent Joe Biden. By the end of the election, the normally reliable red state had turned blue. All thanks to Trump’s arrogance, which cost Republican Party and the incumbent senator, Martha Sally, her seat in the senate.
Loss in deep red state of Georgia
Any pragmatic republican or politician of note will know that when democrats win the deep red state of Georgia, a state last flipped by Bill Clinton in 1992, it is a mark of resoundingly rejection of a republican candidate by the people and this makes the path to victory for such presidential candidate narrower. The renunciation of Donald Trump was even made more evident by the fact that the election in the state was supervised by Republican Secretary of States and the state has a Republican governor. That President Trump came up with a conspiracy theory of being rigged out in a state his loyalist supervised is another reminder of the man’s continuous denial of reality.
The Popular Vote
American election is decided by Electoral College and not popular vote. This explains why the democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over 3 million in 2016 but still lost the election. American constitution simply expects a winner to gather 270 electoral votes and he or she is the president. However, the fact that Biden won the Electoral College by 306 votes to Trumps 232 votes and still leading the popular vote by over 6 million votes and in addition, has gathered close to 80million, the first by any American should make any challenger sober. However, President Trump is till of the opinion that the election he lost by a wide margin was stolen from him.
Conclusion
That fact that President Trump got over 73 million votes, the second highest in American history despite all his numerous misdemeanors is a sad reality check about how deeply divided the country is. Good news however, is that President-Elect. Joe Biden won convincingly and returned Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania states to blue after Trump flipped them in 2016. He also flipped two red states of Arizona and Georgia to blue. More important, is the fact that he is experienced, has votes from diverse American population, on a mission to heal all existing divisions in the country, does not see America through the lens of blue or red state and made history by running and winning with the first minority and female Vice President in American history.
